Ivan Calderón (boxer)
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| Ivan Calderón | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Ivan Calderón Marrero |
| Nickname | Iron Boy El Niño De Hierro |
| Weight | Strawweight |
| Nationality |  Puerto Rican |
| Birth date | January 27, 1975 |
| Birth place | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| Style | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 27 |
| Wins | 27 |
| Wins by KO | 6 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Ivan Calderón (born January 27, 1975 in Puerto Rico) is a boxer from Puerto Rico. Calderón attended the 2000 Olympics in Australia. He is the current WBO Minimumweight world champion. Calderón resides in Guaynabo.
Contents |
[edit] Amateur career
He also lost to Brian Viloria during his amateur boxing career, but he beat Viloria three times before turning professional. In addition, Calderon competed as an international amateur in several tournaments, including the following:
- 1999 3rd place as a Light Flyweight at Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. Results were:
- Defeated Wilfrido Valez (Colombia) points
- Defeated Mendeo Winston (Dominican Republic) points
- Lost to Maikro Romaro (Cuba) points
- 2000 represented Puerto Rico as a light flyweight at the 2000 Syndey Olympic Games. Result was:
- Lost to Masara La Paene (Indonesia) points
[edit] Professional career
After turning professional, Calderón has managed to raise the eyebrows of many Puerto Rican boxing fans, and he has been frequently showcased on ESPN's Friday Night Fights show.
On May 3, 2003, Calderón became a world champion for the first time, beating Eduardo Marquez by a technical decision in nine rounds at Las Vegas, as part of the de la Hoya-Campas undercard, to win the WBO's world Strawweight title. He had dropped Marquez twice before the end of the fight.
Calderón retained his title by a 12 round decision in his first defense, on September 5, over Lorenzo Trejo of Mexico, at Caguas, Puerto Rico. In his second defense, held at Bayamón, he defeated former world champion Alex Sanchez by a unanimous twelve round decision.
On March 20, 2004, he retained the championship with an eleventh round knockout win over former IBF world champion Edgar Cardenas, in Guaynabo.
Before that fight, Calderón obtained his high school credit diploma. Cesar Rey, then director of the Puerto Rican school department, hoped Calderón could become an example to Puerto Rican youth.
On July 31, 2004, as part of the Morales-Hernandez undercard in Las Vegas, he retained his title once again, with a twelve round decision win over former world champion Roberto Leyva.
On November 23 of that year, he made his fifth defense, defeating Nicaraguan Carlos Fajardo by a twelve round unanimous decision. as part of the Barrera-Morales III undercard. His fight with Fajardo was shown live on HBO's Pay per view.
On April 30, of 2005, he retained the title with an eighth round knockout victory over Noel Tunacao, of the famous Tunacao boxing family of the Philippines.
On September 25, he retained his title for the seventh time, with a twelve round unanimous decision over Mexico's Gerardo Verde, at Atlantic City, New Jersey, as part of the boxing card where Floyd Mayweather Jr. became WBC world Jr. Welterweight champion by knocking out Arturo Gatti in six rounds.
On December 10 of that year, Calderón once again retained the title, this time with a twelve round unanimous decision over former world champion Daniel Reyes.
Calderòn began 2006 by defending his title successfully on February 18, with a twelve round unanimous decision over Isaac Bustos in Las Vegas.
He would defend his title successfully twice in 2006 after his fight with Isaac Bustos. On April 29 aganist Miguel Tellez winning the fight by technical knock out thus gaining his sixth knock out victory. He finished his boxing year on October 21 by defeating Jose Luis Varela of Venezuela by unanimous decision.
Calderón as a professional is undefeated, with 27 wins and 6 of those by knockout. His nickname is Iron Boy (despite his relatively poor knockout ratio). He makes up for his lack of power with slick boxing skills.
[edit] Professional championships
| Preceded by Eduardo Ray Marquez |
WBO Minimumweight Champion 3 May 2003 – present |
Incumbent |
[edit] Personal
He is employed by the City of Guaynabo's Department of Sports and Recreation and has been involved in several youth-oriented charities in his native Puerto Rico, including lecturing in island schools and co-sponsoring a massive gift-giving effort in the town of Loiza's Three Kings festival in early 2006.
